


The first move

by Dearqueen



Category: Madre Solo Hay Dos | Daughter From Another Mother (TV)
Genre: Ana finds out she kissed Mari while stoned, Come out of the closet Ana you're gay, Content warning for explicit scenes in the body of the text in case you wanna skip them, Everything I hope for season 2, F/F, Post-Canon, Post-Season/Series 01
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-31
Updated: 2021-02-03
Packaged: 2021-03-18 09:41:40
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 16,327
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29116173
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dearqueen/pseuds/Dearqueen
Summary: What happens right after the end of the first season of Daughter from another mother.(This is the English version for the fanfic O primeiro passo, originally posted by me in Portuguese.)
Relationships: Ana Servín/Mariana Herrera, Mariana Herrera/Ana Servín
Comments: 58
Kudos: 195





	1. Unbearable

**Author's Note:**

> Special shout out to my English-speaking followers on Twitter who told me they’d be interested in reading this translation. Hope you like it!

With Mariana, she had learned to be more honest with herself, to live for herself and not for others or according to what others would think of her.

With Mariana, she felt light, even younger. Mariana was easy to talk to while making herself heard. At first, Ana thought she'd just be a shallow little girl whom she could boss around, one that she'd have to teach to behave, to dress, to obey. But Mariana never bowed to her. She was subtle, that one. Whenever Ana thought she had won an argument, she'd soon see the smirk on the corner of the young woman's lips, silently revealing that somehow she had managed to make Ana act exactly as she wanted.

Ana massaged Valentina's soft tummy, and the baby watched her as Ana searched for traces of Mariana in the room around them. Valentina shook her little legs, drawing her mother's attention back to her, and Ana smiled. It'd taken some hard work, but the little one finally drank the formula without complaint.

Ana thought of Regina, so far from her arms, and felt her chest ache. The pain of not having Regina at home was physical. A single look at her former crib made Ana feel weak, almost sick. She took Valentina from the comfort that supported her on the floor and brought her to her arms, sniffing her delicate little head.

"You miss your sister too, don't you?" Ana whispered to the baby, her eyes watery as she sought to comfort her pain with the sweetness of her daughter in her arms. Valentina babbled her favorite syllable, 'na'. "I know, my love, I know. It's not fair to you, is it?" Ana looked Valentina in the eyes while the baby repeated 'na na na'.

Ana remembered the first day she started babbling, how excited Ceci and Ro had been, each trying to guess which would be their sister's first word, but the truth was that Ana didn't want Valentina to say her first word yet. Not when Mariana was not around. Because if Valentina was already trying to speak, that could only mean one thing: that on the other side of the city, Regina could be saying 'mom' at any moment, away from Ana's ears.

Ana adjusted her daughter on her right arm and reached for the phone on the dresser with her left. She couldn't let that happen. She couldn't miss Regina's first word. Nor her first step. Nor her first tooth. This was absurd, unbearable, she had to fix that situation right away.

***

Mariana heard her phone vibrating on the table but tried to ignore it, determined to finish the report first. Only 4,300 words left. 'Only', she laughed at herself when she checked the count at the bottom of the open document on her notebook. It wasn't possible that in all that time she had managed to write only 657 words. 'Maybe if I add some graphs ...', she thought, but before deciding whether or not that was a good idea, the phone vibrated again.

"What now??!" She pushed the notebook aside and got out of bed to get the damn phone, pretending that the texts were getting in the way and not that they were the perfect excuse to take a break after all the effort to start that report.

Her professor had given her only one chance to apply for the research group scholarship, and she needed to get that scholarship. Money was certainly going to solve most of her problems. Working regular jobs was proved to be an impossible task with Regina still so little and dependent on her. Pablo and Elena helped as they could, but Regina always asked for her mother, and with Ana's distance making the little girl's life harder, Mariana felt twice as guilty every time she had to hand the baby to one of the two.

[Bruja]

How's your schedule tomorrow?

I need to see Regina.

Cold. Mariana hated periods at the end of texts, for it seemed like the person was shutting a door in her face or something. But that was precisely what Ana had done, wasn't it? So maybe the periods in her texts made sense, after all...

Mari considered what to reply. The truth would be to say that she would only be able to leave the house after finishing the report since the deadline was tomorrow, but her heart was aching to set foot in that house again. She really wanted to see her daughter, she really wanted to see Ana, she really wanted to be a family with the two of them again, but she knew that the cold invitation was not for that.

If she told Ana that she was stuck with a college report deadline, the businesswoman would tell her that Ramón and Altagracia would go for Regina, then bring her back, solving the problem in the most practical way possible, without the two mothers having to be in each other's presence, and without taking Valentina to see her. No, Mariana was not gonna take that, it had to be her way. Ana had made the first move, so now the next step was up to Mariana, she had to dictate some of the terms.

[Me]

I'm free at 3.

Mariana sent and smirked. See? She also knew how to be cold like the executive. 3pm was early enough so she could spend a lot of time with Valentina before the sunset made Ana ask her to leave, and it was also late enough for her to finish the report if she worked hard and drank all the coffee in the house. 'I hope Elena has refilled our coffee stock,' she thought, remembering seeing the powder nearly finish the last time she got it, just before her friend went grocery shopping.

***

Ana rolled her eyes when the short reply arrived. It wasn't possible that in two weeks that unemployed woman would've arranged enough things to do to fill all her morning schedule on a Tuesday. Fine. If Mariana wanted to play the super busy working mom part, so be it. What mattered was that she'd see Regina. Yes, that was all she wanted. She thought about offering Ramón to pick them up but soon remembered that Juan Carlos had Ramón on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Dammit. She hated to think that Regina was going to cross the city in a taxi, who knew if there was even gonna be air conditioning. She was gonna get home drenched in sweat. Valentina jolted more agitated on her lap.

"You know how to read, my love? Have you seen that your little sister is coming to see us tomorrow? Yes, beautiful, that's right, Mariana will bring our princess." She might've imagined it, but Valentina seemed to have widened her eyes at the sound of her other mother's name. She must be missing the comfort of her lap... The silly little songs that Mariana made up while changing her diapers... Ana's lips tried to hide the smile while the memories surfaced.

The house was so quiet without them. Especially now that she didn't have to leave early for work, the silence stretched, more and more, particularly unnerving in the room that was once occupied by the brunette she had sworn to hate two weeks before. Anger was a more comfortable feeling for Ana, she knew how to deal with anger. Some yelling at Altagracia here, another yelling with the gardener there, and she slowly unloaded the poison that consumed her from the inside since Mariana had irreparably broken her trust.

At first, anger had also served to coat fear. For days Ana had to deal with the uncertainty of the cancer by herself, anxiety suffocating her every time her eyes rested on her reflection on a mirror. After she confirmed for the fifth time that the papers inside the mail from the laboratory did still show the same message that ensured that her tumor was benign, she finally managed to sleep through the night.

On the one hand, it'd been a comforting change, being able to sleep. On the other, more hours of sleep meant more chances to dream about Mariana, which made her angrier the next day. Ro and Ceci no longer questioned their mother's mood, focusing more and more on their own little worlds, occasionally visiting their younger sister when they heard her excited little giggles from afar. They were an indication that Valentina was getting smiles out of their mother and therefore it was safe to interact.

Ana typed a text confirming the visit for the next day and took Valentina to the kitchen to prepare the little girl's dinner. Before, she used to leave everything to her faithful staff. Now that she no longer knew what to do with all the time she suddenly had on her hands, she decided that preparing her daughter's dinner was her responsibility.

A few hours later, with a glass of wine in hand, she opened her email inbox again to confirm the great lack of new demands. She was used to an intense flow of messages, demands, deadlines, and customer lists, but since she decided to reduce her activity at the company to a mere consultant role - for some reason that no longer made sense in her mind -, all she did was analyze contracts and possibly take a look at the file of a potential client or another. Boring. She did all that in two seconds with her hands tied behind her back and then spent the rest of the day refreshing her inbox, almost praying that there'd be a crisis in the company that she needed to take care of.

The empty glass was left on the coffee table, marked with the lipstick she insisted on using even indoors. She opened her short conversation with Mariana once again, as if hoping that her phone had missed a new message that had not been notified. Perhaps it'd be interesting to think of a schedule for the next day. Yeah, she had to do that. Can you imagine Mariana and her staring at each other with nothing to do while the babies slept?! God, how could she not have thought of this terrible possibility?! She opened a new spreadsheet in her notebook and got to work.

***

"ELENA!" Mariana shouted from the bedroom while trying to put on makeup with one hand and distract Regina with a toy with the other. " For fuck's sake," She sighed, "ELENAAAA!”

A few hurried steps made Mariana think that her friend was running to help her, but it was Pablo's voice that announced from the bedroom door:

"She has headphones on, I think she's working on a single with the band. What is it now? Diaper?" He asked approaching his crying daughter in the stroller.

"It's nothing, she’s just complaining, she wants attention, but I can’t entertain her right now, there are still two pages left to finish this shit and I don’t know what else to stick in the plan of a research I’ve never seen being done, where am I supposed to find innovative ways for this b-"

"Relax, Mari, leave it to me. Daddy will play with you, right, penguin?" He said in the voice he used with his daughter, taking the stroller to the living room and then closing the door behind him, which made Mariana's headache stop hammering so hard against her skull.

As Regina's crying was muffled, Mariana finished with the eye pencil and checked her teeth in the mirror, making sure that they looked clean. She glanced again at the undone button that showed a subtle neckline, inflated her chest, then chuckled. Who was she trying to fool by attempting to seduce a straight woman with her breasts?! The situation she was in was absurdly ridiculous, but it was impossible not to feel a shiver down her spine when she remembered Ana's blue eyes that used to look at her with such tenderness while they took care of their daughters as the best pair of mothers this world has ever seen.

"Two more pages. Two pages and we're off. " She promised herself in the mirror with a nod. She put her hair up in a messy bun and sat on the bed again with the computer on her lap.

***

In two minutes, Mariana would be officially late. Of course, she shouldn't've expected anything different from the young woman. Ana fixed a vase a millimeter to the left on the top of one of the tall tables that decorated the hall. She mentally went over the list of planned activities again and glanced at her watch one more time, wondering what she'd do if Mariana was more than ten minutes late and ruined the first activity on the list.

"Do you want me to open the door for Mariana, or ...?

"No, you don't have to, Alta, thank you, I'll take care of it myself. Her. Them, I mean."

The housekeeper nodded, before pointing to the kitchen and continuing:

"The snack you asked for is ready. Should I set the table now or wait for Mariana to arrive with the baby first?"

Another glance at the watch and a disappointed sigh.

"Wait. I don't know how long it'll take them to-"

The bell interrupted the conversation and Altagracia smiled when she saw Ana flee to the door and open it immediately. When she saw Regina's chubby face, Ana's eyes filled with water and she snatched the girl from Mariana's arms without even checking for permission.

"My love, my sweet sweet love!" Ana hugged her daughter as tightly as she could without hurting her, "God, you have no idea how much mommy missed you, my little angel! " She gave half a spin with her daughter in her arms, and Mariana decided not to wait for an invitation to enter the house and close the door.

"Hi Ana." She greeted, shyer than intended.

Ana turned to her as if she had only then noticed her presence.

"Hi. Valentina's up there waiting for you. Shall we?"

"Why, of course! I can't wait to see my baby!" Mariana replied more enthusiastically, and Ana made her way upstairs, followed by the brunette.

When they entered the nursery, they found Valentina awake in the crib, babbling to the ceiling. Similarly to how Ana acted at the front door downstairs, Mariana threw herself at the baby, sweeping her to her arms with watery eyes. She'd longed to hold her daughter for two whole weeks and needed a few minutes before she stopped being emotional and the two women finally looked at one another.

"Ana, I... I think we can agree that this situation is not doing us any good."

The blonde pondered those words for a moment, before nodding, staring at the floor while holding Regina's head against her neck.

"No, it's not..." She finally agreed. "We need a schedule." Said more assertively, this time looking the other in the eye. "I prepared a spreadsheet for you to fill in with the times when you're busy so we can figure out how to arrange the visits. I think it's better that my house is officially set as the place where Valentina and Regina will spend time together, BUT" Ana raised her tone to prevent Mariana from interrupting her with the protests that were clearly written on her features, "Don't worry, in this planning I'm also willing to include time for you to have both of them for yourself as well."

Mariana shut her mouth instead of complaining right away. Ana was being reasonable, actually. Spending time with Valentina and Regina in that house was certainly more relaxing and easier than in the apartment, with Pablo, his girlfriend, Elena, her girlfriend, and the eventual friends they both brought into the house.

"What do you say? Can we fill the table now with your schedule?"

"What? Now?!"

"Yeah, uh, the sooner we define that, the better. I can't take another week not knowing when I'll see Regina again, Mariana, I can't."

"Alright." Mariana took a step towards Ana and Valentina, and saw Ana almost flinch in reflex. "I know, believe me. It wasn't fun for me either." She stroked the blond-haired girl in her arms.

"Well then, let's get this over with." Ana turned to the door and Mariana decided to let her take her to the office. Now that she thought about it, the idea that they'd spend an uneventful afternoon just watching the babies and talking really seemed silly. An uneventful afternoon with Ana was something that would only exist in her imagination.

The plan of returning to college without Ana knowing went down the drain pretty fast. As Ana asked for Mariana's schedule, it became impossible to hide what she was doing every morning and some afternoons, especially when Mariana answered questions with incredibly specific times such as 'On Fridays, I'm free at 2:25'. What the heck kept the brunette busy until exactly 2:25pm was the question written on Ana's quirked eyebrows. Mariana didn't take long to finally reveal that she had resumed her studies and was taking Regina to school with her.

"And who drives you there?!" Ana asked, almost in despair, pressing her daughter harder against her chest.

"Elena got her parents' old car, which has been a huge help."

"Ah." Was all that escaped Ana's mouth while she painted a mental picture of Mariana and Elena dating again, which explained why they lived together and the other was ready to drive Mari and Regina up and down every day of the week.

That part Mariana decided not to explain. Let Ana draw whatever conclusions she wants. She'd made it clear, crystal clear, transparent that she had no interest in Mariana. Of all the texts that Mariana had sent her in the first days after the girls' christening, Ana had replied to only one, in which Mari had said that, even though the kiss had been more of an impulsive thing, she hoped that Ana would think about her feelings towards her because she hadn't kissed Ana without thinking that the blonde felt at least the hint of an attraction too. To this, Ana replied: 'Well, you thought wrong.'

After that harsh text, Mari's tears convinced her to give up the impossible relationship. They started to discuss only the babies' health by text, as if talking to a professional of some sort instead of one of the most important people in each other's lives. Ana had suffered from the decision as well. She felt a deep connection to Mariana, she was her best friend, the only one in years. She was the one who understood her the most, she was the only one who shared that overflowing love she felt for the two most beautiful tiny creatures that this world had ever seen. Not even Juan Carlos was able to love Regina and Valentina as much as Ana and Mariana did, and it was comforting to look at her while she nursed Valentina. Mariana's love for her daughters was like a daily dose of peace for Ana. It was like a certainty that she'd never be alone.

"So we're settled on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays?" Mariana interrupted the trance that Ana was in while her glassy eyes stared at some fixed point above the monitor.

"Hm? Sorry, I got distracted. Yes, yes, Tuesdays and Thursdays in the morning I stay with them while you study, then when you arrive from your classes, I leave you alone with them, unless you need anything, I don't plan on leaving the house while Regina's here."

"Okay, and Saturdays?"

"Well, Saturdays will be more complicated, because there's Valle de Bravo."

A delightful memory of the moments she spent at the summer house came to Mariana. When she began to wonder about the moment when her feelings for Ana had become something more than friendship and admiration, she'd come to the conclusion that the trip to Valle had a lot to do with everything. The way Ana reassured her about her fear of water - something Tere had tried for years and failed - showed her how she trusted that woman. There was something about Ana, a certainty, who knows... But it was something that captivated Mariana, that amazed her. And it was on that trip that she realized how much she admired the woman she once thought she'd hate forever. Funny, wasn't it? How hate and love could be confused, so opposite, yet so burning, so similar.

"What are your plans regarding Valle?"

"I can't take the two of them there every weekend because I have to coordinate with the weekends Juan Carlos won't have the children, so I think once a month could be ideal. More than that I think would be impossible, given that Valentina has three parents to take turns with her."

"And Regina doesn't?!"

"It's different, isn't it?"

"And why would it be any different? Do you think Juan Carlos is more of a father than Pablo?"

"Oh my god, Mari, I'm not attacking Pablo, why do you have this crazy need to protect your exes?! Christ!"

"If you're not attacking him, what are you doing exactly?"

"All I'm saying is that Pablo sees Regina whenever he pleases, with you two living under the same roof. Juan Carlos has to schedule a visit to see his three children."

"Ah. Of course. I didn't know you were still broken up..."

"Didn't your dearest mother tell you? I thought he'd be hiding with her somewhere."

"I haven't spoken to her."

Ana looked at Mariana while she pretended to be too busy fixing her daughter's hair.

"Since... christening?"

Mariana shrugged, still refusing to face Ana. But it was obvious that she wasn't talking to her mother, she thought that this much would be as clear to Ana as her feelings for her. Tere's adventures with a married man had cost her her stay at Ana's, and keeping her mother's dirty secret had cost her the trust of the person whom Mariana most loved.

"Yes." She got up from the table and put a greater distance between her and Ana to avoid further questions.

"I asked Alta to prepare a snack for us. Are you hungry?" Ana changed the subject, also not wanting to address what had happened at the end of the christening.

"That'd be great!" Mari smiled again. Ana felt a chill down her spine.

"Right," She closed the computer lid, "What about taking the girls out to the garden? I can ask Alta to set the table outside for us..."

"Perfect!"

Without realizing it, Ana ended up abandoning her scheduled activities prepared for that afternoon with Mariana and Regina. When they settled down in the garden and started eating the fruit and toast with the delicious pates that Alta had made, they soon got lost in a long conversation about how to insert solids into the babies' diet, and Mari began to describe all the new functions she and Pablo were including in the Konene app to help parents of newborns prepare for that moment.

Ana gave her some ideas on how to market Konene, and almost suggested doing this work for free for both of them, holding the offer between her teeth before it slipped her tongue. She certainly had time to work on it. It was something that would bring her some joy. However, it was very dangerous territory. Their relationship was going through the most delicate phase since they met - and that beginning had not been easy -, it wouldn't be wise to mix work on top of all that. First she had to see what this new dynamic of Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays would be like. Yes, that was her focus. A goal, finally! Ana was lost without a goal to achieve in her routine, so this new family arrangement would be her top priority. It was imperative that it worked.


	2. Distractions

Thursday was weird. Mariana thought that since on Tuesday they had spent the afternoon together with their daughters - and she'd even stayed a little after dark -, on Thursday they would do the same. But when she arrived from college at Ana's house, the woman left her with the girls and went to her bedroom, saying that Mariana could call her if she needed anything. In fact, that was what they'd agreed upon but it was not what Mariana wished for. She wasn't gonna push for more time with Ana, of course not, but that decision did not stop her mind from thinking of ways to “need something” on the next visit.

Saturday went by and Ana didn't see Regina. It was Juan Carlos' weekend with Valentina, Rodrigo, and Cecília, and, for some reason, Ana preferred to be alone than having Regina over without her sister present. Mariana thought several times about calling her, maybe even inviting her to visit her daughter in the apartment she shared with her exes, but common sense forbade her. In this case, common sense was Elena. If there was anyone in that house who was a veteran in terms of suffering for confused women, it was Elena. So as the great expert that she was, she forbade Mariana from running after the blonde. 'One step at a time, Mari,' she said on Saturday evening with a can of beer in hand. 'Now that she won't miss Regi as much - since she sees her often -, let her miss  _ you _ '.

Mariana spent the rest of the night drinking with Elena and the other girls from the band. It was a good distraction, actually. And if the chat was boring, she could always use her daughter in the next room as an excuse to leave. And like that, she survived Saturday. But Sunday came along with a new avalanche of desires. She wanted to talk to Ana, she wanted to know if she was okay. She hadn't had the opportunity to ask about the cancer yet, the question always hanging in the air whenever she spoke to Ana, but the courage never present. How do you ask someone who doesn't like you much whether she has cancer or not? Not possible. To make matters worse, nobody could advise Mari, as that was Ana's secret, a secret she wouldn't tell anyone. She'd betrayed Ana's trust enough…

After breakfast, she decided to take Regina out to the park near their place, where the other babies and children would possibly distract her and prevent her from texting Ana. Regina liked to play with some twins who were often at the playground too, and Mari snapped some pictures and filmed the three of them interacting, it was really cute. A little older, the twins could already speak a few words and so they began to "talk" to Regina in a language entirely of their own, which not even their mother understood very well. In the video, Regina was very attentive to what the other two were saying to her, wide-eyed, and occasionally shaking the rattle in her hand, her way of taking part in the conversation.

Mariana would give anything to have Ana there with her, witnessing that precious little chat. She missed her so much, it was as if Tuesday afternoon had flared up everything she'd tried hard to bury down her chest after the rejection she'd received through her phone. Why did she have to screw it all up?! Had she never confessed her feelings, perhaps Ana would've already forgiven her for keeping her mother's dirty secret. Perhaps they'd be together in that park - or in a fancier one near the mansion - watching Regina put on a lot of effort to participate in the conversation circle. Ana would manage to say that that was a sign that the girl would have a brilliant career, and Mariana would laugh, teasing Ana for already worrying about her months-old daughter's success.

Mariana chuckled at her own thoughts. Wow, it'd be chaos when Regina and Valentina were graduating high school! Ana'd wanna control everything, forbidding the girls to choose 'less noble' careers, Mari'd have to intervene and convince the blonde that her successful genes would be present in both of them, regardless of the career choice they made… Yes, she couldn't wait to have those ridiculous arguments again. She couldn't wait for Ana to feel comfortable in her presence again so that they could be the family they had been those months…

***

Ana was on the verge of a nervous breakdown. Away from all her four children, her ex-husband, her… ex-friend? Anyway, away from everyone. Her eyes were still red and she refused to let her maids see her in such a state, so she kept locked up in the room. Her phone rang for the sixth time and she finally gave in.

"What, mom?! Can't you see that I don't want to answer?!" Her voice trembled, making her state obvious.

"Honey, you can push whoever you want away, except me."

Silence. A sniff. Then two.

"What do you want?"

"To know about you, my love."

"Know what?! There's literally nothing to know! Nothing happens in my sad life anymore!"

"The weekends without our children are the worst, I know that. When your father came for you, well, it was hell."

"I bet hell is not as bad as this..." The irony was a good sign, tears no longer obstructing her vision.

"Do you know what I did when you were out with him?"

"Drowned your sorrows in a bottle?"

"Well, yes, at first, but over time I found better ways to deal with those days."

"It never ends, does it?"

"No, it doesn't, honey... You gotta learn to share your children... But there are some better ways for you to handle it. Instead of obsessing over them and what they're doing and whether or not they miss you, focus on yourself."

"There's not much left to focus on, mom. I had my nails  _ and _ my hair done yesterday, I spent more than I should on new shoes, there's simply nothing left to do to pass the time! And don't come with those  _ read- _

_ a-book, find-a-new-hobby _ ideas, I can't take this kind of bullshit advice anymore! As if I had the state of mind to deal with books or pottery, or whatever!"

"You forget that I've known you for forty-two years, Ana."

"Why, why throw someone's age in their face like that?!"

Laughter on the other end of the line.

"Oh dear, you're yet to discover what it's like to be old. The forties are the best years! Believe your old mother, you're at your best phase!"

"Yup. Sure." She rolled her eyes. "And what did you really do? When dad had me on weekends?

"I went dancing!"

"Dancing?! But you suck at it!"

"And? Does one need to know how to dance to have fun on a dance floor? Do yourself a favor, Ana, and break free, will ya? Cut the weeping, put on a pretty dress, and walk out the door with no curfew! After all, there'll be absolutely no one to judge you or demand any answers when you arrive in the middle of the night unable to walk a straight line and fall onto bed with the clothes you have on smelling of cigarette."

Finally a thought to occupy her mind for more than three minutes after hanging up the phone. Dancing, huh? It wasn't such a bad idea, looking through that angle... There were some vintage clubs in the city, she didn't have to go anywhere where people had to show their Ids before they were granted entrance, where people Mariana's age would pity her for being single that late in life.

Ana opened the computer and started her research. She'd find a place to go dancing.

***

"And then she kissed me, can you believe it?!?!"

Ana didn't get why the man sitting across from her laughed so hard when she revealed the horrible outcome of the story of how her friendship with her youngest daughter's other mother ended.

"Are you serious?" He laughed harder. "You were  _ really _ shocked when she kissed you? Geez, you're so clueless!"

"Excuse me?!"

"Ana, I think you've been married for so long that you forgot what a new romance feels like because... Well, that's the ONLY explanation for you not having seen it coming!" Who the hell did that man whose name she no longer remembered think he was and why was he entitled to call her old to her face?!

"Hey, I'm not that old! For your information, I'm in my best phase!" She repeated her mother's words with her chin up, then tried to suck the rest of caipirinha that must have been hiding somewhere under all that ice.

"Who called you old here??" He put his hands in the air, pleading innocence. "I said you were married for a long time, in the sense that you forgot what it's like to fall in love."

"And what do  _ you _ know about falling in love?" She challenged him as if she knew anything at all about him that indicated that he didn't know what he was talking about, when the great truth was that the only thing that she remembered of what he'd said all night was that he had about three children, each with a different woman.

"I know enough to tell you that it was a matter of time for this Mariana to tell you how she feels. Did you really not suspect that she was into you? Not even a little bit?"

Ana put the glass down on the table and was startled by the strength with which the glass hit the flat surface. She hadn't realized how clumsy her movements were. To suspect that Mariana would kiss her? What an absurd assumption, how was she supposed to know Mariana, MARIANA wanted her that way. Okay, so they spent a few nights together drinking in the yard, some afternoons together changing diapers and bathing the girls, some mornings together heating bottles… And there was the fact that she already knew that Mariana was into women. And the fact that she'd told Mariana that she found her attractive. And that she'd want her, were she a man herself. Oh.

"See? I knew you were gonna remember something. It's always a detail, a look, a touch. I bet she touched you for whatever reason, didn't she? The arm, the hair?"

"Actually..." Ana blinked incessantly as if the countless memories were blinding her as they competed for her attention. "I think... Damn, I think  _ I _ was the one who touched her all the time! But surely she wouldn't think I was hitting on her, would she? Friends touch! God, it's normal!"

"It can be. But have you ever considered that you'd treat her differently if she were a man?"

"I clearly wouldn't touch a male friend the way I touch her!" Ana snorted and brought the glass of melted ice back to her mouth, getting frustrated once more when she didn't taste the alcohol.

"Think about the reason why. I have faith that you can draw the right conclusion on your own. Look, it was a real pleasure to hear you, Ana, but this old man didn't come to the nightclub just to teach drunk beautiful blondes what it's like to hit on their friends who happen to also be the mothers of their daughters." He laughed as if that'd been an awesome joke. "I'm gonna hit the dance floor, you coming?"

***

The professor of the last class on Tuesday was absent, and Mariana was trying to decide whether to go with Elena home or ask her friend to drop her off at Ana's place at once.

"I don't think it's pushy, Mari, but if you wanna blame it on me so you don't look desperate to spend more time there, I don't mind. Tell her that I wanted to drop you off at once so I wouldn't be driving you up and down all day."

"I think she assumed we're back together..." Mari disclosed, worried about how Elena would feel about that. The girl laughed.

"Great, isn't it? Let her believe that! Who knows, she might get jealous?"

"You think?"

"You tell me. Do you think she was ever jealous of us?" Elena asked, pulling Mari towards the car before the girl changed her mind again about going to Ana's.

"The bikini day! Remember?" Mari covered the giggles with one hand. "I almost couldn't believe she fled home just to get you out of my arms and tell us to put some clothes on."

"She was horrified to find you kissing a tattooed woman, it was  _ so _ good!" Elena's laughter joined Mariana's as they recalled the scene. They got in the car and Elena looked at her friend again before turning the ignition on. "Mari, seriously now, have you told her about that day in the club?"

A pink shade colored Mari's cheeks.

"No…"

"You know that straight women don't go around kissing their bisexual friends, right? Even though she was stoned as shit, that was NOT the first time she thought about kissing you, I'm positive." Elena let Mari take the information before continuing. "Believe me, I know what I'm talking about. Before we hooked up, you also thought you were straight, remember? But I was seeing the signs. I wasn't going to tell you to try to make Ana jealous if I thought you were deluded by a straight old lady."

Mari laughed at the description. Indeed, Ana was much older than her, but “old” wasn't a word she'd associate with Ana. She looked at her and saw a fancy-ass woman with those chic expensive clothes, all poise, all…  _ Sexy _ , her brain completed, recalling the day when he saw Ana in a bathing suit, the cleavage almost reaching her belly. No, that was definitely not the body of an  _ old _ woman. A milf, maybe. She bit her lip at the image imprinted on her brain.

"Shall we go, then?" Elena checked, turning the steering wheel to get the car out of the parking spot. "I'll take you to her house earlier today and you pay attention to the damn signs. Drop my name here and there, see how she reacts. You don't have to lie, call me a girlfriend or anything. Just the idea that you spend time with me should be enough to shake something up within her. But pay attention, I won't be there to read the signs for you!"

"Okay, okay. But don't blame me if I get home with no idea whether she was jealous or not, I'm really bad at it!"

Elena snorted, shaking her head at the disaster that was her friend.

***

"Mariana! What a wonderful surprise! The Mrs did not tell me that you were gonna arrive earlier today."

"Oh, she didn't know it either, Alta, it was a very last-minute thing. Do you think she'll mind if I wait here until the scheduled time?" Mari asked entering that always immaculate house.

"Nonsense! You won't be sitting around here waiting like you're not family! Do you want anything, a juice, maybe? I'm making some lemonade to take to the Mrs outside."

"Is she in the garden?"

"Yes, with the babies! Go on, I'll be right there with the lemonades, come on, girl!" Alta gave her a little push toward the door that led to the backyard.

Mariana left her heavy backpack on a chair in the living room and slid the French doors open, catching the first glimpse of Ana and the girls from afar. It was a sunny day, so they were hiding from the strong sun rays under a huge parasol. Ana was lying beside the girls, on the blanket spread over the grass, with a huge hat on her head and a book in her hands. Mari smiled, genuinely happy that Ana finally had the time for relaxing at her home, reading even! As she approached them, Ana's naked legs became more visible, escaping under the loose dress that moved with the wind, sometimes raising high enough to reveal the curve of her ass.

Thinking that it was Altagracia who was bringing her juice, Ana didn't look up until she heard Mariana's voice.

"Valentinaaa, look who's here to see you, my love!"

Ana dropped the book and sat up quickly, visibly flustered for having been found carelessly lying on her stomach.

"Mari!" She looked for her phone to check the time as if for a second she thought she'd spent two hours reading without realizing it and it was somehow already time for Mariana to arrive.

"I'm sorry for not warning you before," Mariana said lying on her side next to Valentina and holding her little hands, which she brought to her lips for a sequence of loving kisses. "Elena and I didn't have the last class, it's a subject we take together, so we were free long before the time." Mariana tried to read something in those ocean eyes that fitted her, but there didn't seem to be anything there other than what was left of the surprise of seeing Mariana there so much earlier than agreed. "If we went home and then came back here, we would spend more time in the car than anything, so... We either killed time on campus," Oops, there it was! Ana's eyes flinched in clear discomfort. It seems that imagining Mariana and Elena 'killing time' together didn't please her very much, "Or she brought me here to see Vale, right, my beautiful baby girl?" Mari completed looking at the smiling blonde baby she hadn't seen since the previous Thursday. Valentina answered with her usual 'na na na na'. "She'll speak before Regina, don't you think?"

When she turned to Ana again to hear her answer, her gaze fell for a moment on the neckline of that summer dress, which Ana noticed, adjusting the dress so that more parts of her breasts were hidden by the fabric. 

"I suppose..." Ana replied without paying much attention. "You... Um... Have you eaten?"

"Oh, yes, Elena and I have lunch early every day on campus, before the last classes."

The smile that Ana flashed her in reply was clearly fake. The plan was working, Mari thought. Elena really knew what she was saying. Maybe she was right about Ana not being straight... Maybe Ana just needed someone to show her that she was not straight. Well, clearly the impulsive approach of kissing her on the mouth hadn't been the best idea... But that didn’t mean that Mariana couldn’t try in other ways, much more subtle, like that silly little game of jealousy… Making the uptight businesswoman realize that pushing Mariana away was actually her coping mechanism because Mari had uncovered a part of her that she didn't even know existed, a part of her that was numb and that frightened her when it was made known.

Alta arrived with the lemonades, breaking the silence that had been established since they talked about lunch. The two thanked her for the beverages and tasted them, smiling their appreciation for the juice.

"What was it like to have the whole weekend for yourself?" Mari asked, before the lack of topic made Ana find some reason to hide in the big house, leaving Mariana with the girls as she did last time.

"It was..." Flashes of making out with a stranger in a club came to the surface. "Weird." She wrinkled her nose.

"I can imagine... It's not something that happens a lot around here, is it?"

Ana chuckled, eyeing the walls of the house she loved so much, her home for so many years.

"I can't remember this house ever being that empty... When we moved here we already had Ceci, and I was pregnant with Rodrigo. The weekends have always been loud here, with Ceci's friends running around, then Rodrigo's… Being here alone is very…" She tried to find a word that would soften the despair she found herself in on Sunday afternoon, but it was Mariana who completed the sentence for her.

"Depressing?"

Ana gave her a sad smile and nodded. Mariana knew her very well, she couldn't pretend that she hadn't hated every second she was left alone in that house.

"You know... Regina and I can come next time... Or, or just Regina if you prefer..." Mari offered, eyes down, to which Ana just kept nodding in silence.

"My mom convinced me to go dancing on Sunday." Ana blurted out in hopes of easing the discomfort in the air.

"You went clubbing with your  _ mom _ ?!"

"NO!" Ana chortled at the absurd idea that her mother would go  _ clubbing _ , as apparently young people said those days. "I went alone."

"Oh. I don't have that courage, I feel kinda," Mari wanted to say 'like a loser', but obviously it wouldn't be a happy choice of words to refer to what Ana had just been through, "Kinda out of place, I think. I need company to go to a place like this."

"Company can be found there..."

Mariana pushed aside the troubling image of a line of people who must have hit on that gorgeous woman sitting next to her.

"Ah... Yes, indeed. Did you, um... Have fun, then?"

"To be honest, I don't remember half the night very well, but I think so? I don’t know, does it count as fun if you’re not sure if you fooled around with someone?" She snorted, sipping what was left of her lemonade. Pretending she didn't know if she'd kissed the guy who kept her company until about three in the morning seemed better than admitting it had happened.

Mariana swore she tried not to mention the night Ana kissed her under the influence of drugs, but the similarity between what the blonde was telling her and what happened that other night was too much for her.

"I don't know, you tell me! Did that night you went out with me to see Elena's band count as fun?"

Ana's eyebrows furrowed in confusion at the mention of that day.

"I pretty much don't remember a thing about that night, just us talking in the girls' dressing room and then, well, then I woke up in the hospital with Juan Carlos pissed at me."

"So that night doesn't count?"

"I don't know, Mariana, why the heck are you talking about that night? What was so  _ fun  _ about that night?! Oh, shit! " She widened her eyes at the possibility, "No one kissed me that night, did they? For the love of god, tell me no one kissed me!"

Mariana chuckled at the floor, shaking her head. It was now or never. She had to tell her.

"No, Ana,  _ nobody _ kissed  _ you _ that night. But  _ you _ kissed someone."

"ME?! WHAT?! WHO?! " Ana tossed the hat she had on aside as if its shadow was somehow hindering the essential information that Mariana had kept to herself all that time.

"Are you sure you wanna know?"

"Obviously!!"

"After I tell you, there's no way I can  _ untell _ you, okay?"

"Tell me at once, Mariana, for god's sake, who did I kiss that night?!"

Mariana's cheeks heated up again, remembering the stolen kiss and Ana's high love confession.

"Well... Me. You kissed me that night." She finally revealed, shrugging her shoulders and looking away as soon as the last word left her mouth.

Ana's eyes had never been so wide. Her petrified look was very much like the one she shot at Mariana when she found out she was Regina's real biological mother.

"No..." He mumbled, more to herself than to the other.

"Yes…"

"Are you  _ sure _ ? " Ana asked, to which Mari laughed and nodded.

"I think I can tell when someone kisses me, Ana..."

"But I... My god, how can I not remember that... I kissed you?" She whispered as if the risk of someone else finding out was real.

"Okay. Ana, listen to me. I didn't tell you this before because I didn't wanna freak you out, I know that when you said you loved me, you didn't mean it  _ romantically." _

"I… " Ana blinked several times before repeating the sentence her brain was having trouble processing, "Did I say I love you?"

"You did, yeah... Right before you kissed me. But, look, it's okay, I know you didn't mean those things, you were super high, and-"

"Wow, Mari, I'm sorry. My god, that explains so much. God, I'm so sorry! I don't know how I could've been so careless, telling you that I love you and then kissing you, now it all makes sense, you thinking I'm... That I could be..."

"No, Ana, forget it, never mind. See? I shouldn't've told you. That's why I didn't tell you before, even though Elena said I should've, I knew I was going to confuse you more and that-"

" _ Elena _ told you to tell me that I kissed you and said I love you?!"

Shit. Her fictional relationship. Now it was over, she couldn't pretend that Elena and she were together anymore. Elena would never have insisted for her to tell Ana about the kiss and love confession combo if they were together. Mariana nodded, avoiding making the situation worse.

Ana was appalled. Mariana almost regretted having elucidated the blonde as to what had happened that day. But at the same time, seeing Ana like that, so…  _ Shaken _ by the revelation, by what she was capable of saying and doing… That was certainly a step in the right direction. In the direction in which Ana would finally own her most repressed wants and needs.


	3. Saturday

It was expected that things got a little weird as soon as Ana came to know she'd kissed Mari  _ before _ Mari stole a kiss from her at christening, but the weirdness didn't last as long as the two of them thought. Ana was a little quiet for the rest of that day, then on Thursday as well, disappearing into her room again. On Saturday, though, since they hadn't set separate time slots for each of them to have the babies, they ended up spending the late morning and all afternoon together. Mari told Ana about the scholarship she'd gotten for academic research, and the blonde was super proud, saying that Mari would go far, knowledgeable and determined as she was. From then on, Ana put aside the kiss thing, and, little by little, visit by visit, they resumed their friendship, as it was before all that crazy drama drove them apart.

On the last Friday of the month, Juan Carlos decided to show up at the house. They argued, of course. How dare he set foot there without her consent?! The more absurd arguments he came up with to justify spending the night at the house, the more irritated Ana became until she grabbed her bag and walked out the door. She drove a few blocks to clear her head, with no particular destination in sight until the hint of a plan gained form in her mind. That Saturday was hers to have Valentina, no matter how much Juan Carlos whined, the table with the days he'd have her hadn't been carefully prepared just to be thrown out the window at the slightest inconvenience! Since he wanted to spend the weekend in that house with his children, well, he would. But not with every child. Not with Valentina.

Ana stopped the car in the bowling parking lot, hoping that life would grant her the serendipitous encounter she needed.

She went up the stairs to the bowling alley where Pablo and his friends used to spend their time and money, and YES! There he was!

"Ana?!" Apparently, her presence there was the last thing he expected. 'Understandable,' she thought.

"Pablo, dear! How are you doing?" There were no limits to how often Ana was able to use her business smile, as she called it. And lately, they'd been so rarely put to use with her workload being reduced to almost 1/10 of what it used to be, that it was almost comforting to put her business skills to practice.

"Fine, what are you doing here? I don't have Regina." He pleaded innocent as soon as he noticed that she'd come without the baby.

"No, I know, dear, I didn't come for Regina, don't worry. I came by with hopes of running into you, do you have a minute?" She asked, glancing at the four heads behind him trying to eavesdrop on the conversation.

Pablo looked over his shoulder, following her gaze, then nodded, following Ana to the benches away from the alleys.

"Well, I'll not take much of your time, I know you're busy, probably beating your friends," Ana smiled, knowing well enough that the way to win a man was always to praise him, "The truth is that I came here to ask you a favor. You know, when Mariana moved in with you, we weren't exactly at our best, so it turned out that she never gave me the address…"

"What do you want with our address?!" Pablo crossed his arms in front of his broad chest, for the first time in his life he seemed to hold some kind of leverage over that spoiled rich woman. For some reason, Ana wanted to go by his house, and he had the power to decide whether to allow it or not. He raised his eyebrow, savoring the moment.

"Well, first of all, I think that there's still time for a late little house-warming gift, right?" She intensified the smile, always very diplomatic.

"Ah, yes, of course, we're indeed in need of some new curtains..." He tried.

"Well, consider them bought and set up!" Ana clapped once, excited by the direction of that concealed negotiation.

"Cool, cool." Pablo couldn't believe that he had really managed to get new curtains for the living room in exchange for something as banal as an address. "But tell me again, why didn't you get the address directly from Mari? I thought you two were cool now?"

"Surprise! I wanna surprise her!" Ana considered her plan for a moment, for the first time afraid of it not working out as well as she wanted. "Do you know if she has plans for this weekend?"

"None that she shared with me... Maybe Elena knows more about it..."

'Oh, Elena, always Elena', Ana thought, still holding the business smile on her face.

"Of course, Elena! Can you give me her number too? Along with the address? You know what? Text me everything, it's easier, do you have my number?"

"I can get it with Mari..."

"No," 'God, how did Mariana ever call this moron smart?!' "It's a surprise, remember? Mari cannot know that I swung by today."

"Hm, true... Here's the deal, put your number here," He took his cell phone out of his pocket and held it out to her. "Then once I choose the curtains and lamps, I send you the link, how about that?"

Okay, maybe Ana could respect the boy more now. That had been really smooth! Much like she did with difficult clients in the office.

"Perfect!" She typed and saved the contact to the phone. "Here it is! Looking forward to your texts!"

She touched his shoulder with that smile still plastered on and left, walking all the way down the stairs that would take her to her car and then back to the house. She'd sleep ONE night under the same roof as her ex-husband, and the next day she'd set her plan into motion.

***

Elena hadn't answered her text, she didn't know what that meant, but she hoped for the best. She said goodbye to her children and, with the help of Valentina's nanny, secured the baby to the car seat. Luggage in the trunk, sunglasses on her face, Ana took the wheel and drove to the address she'd got from Pablo.

On the other side of the city, Elena woke Mariana up with a frighteningly wide smile on her face.

"Let's go, sleeping beauty!!" She pulled her by the sleeve to the kitchen, where a hot coffee had already been served.

"What's going on, Elena?" Mari yawned.

"Today is a special day for you and little Regi."

"What? Why? Where is she?"

"Pablo's room."

"Pablo?! Up this early?!" Mari confirmed on her phone that it wasn't even 8 in the morning yet. On a Saturday.

"Yes, he wanted to say goodbye to Regi before you two left."

"What?!"

Elena finally burst out laughing. Mariana's face was priceless! When Elena explained that Ana had texted her about her plan to take Mariana and Regina to Valle de Bravo for the weekend, Mari almost choked on her coffee. Ana had asked Elena to pack a suitcase for the two of them in secret so that she could surprise them the next morning when she stopped by the apartment to pick them up, but Elena decided that if Mari was going to win the blonde's heart, it wouldn't be in that awful T-shirt she'd gone to sleep in the night before.

Before Mariana could stop freaking out about spending the entire weekend practically alone with Ana because  _ Ana  _ wanted so, the doorbell rang in the kitchen. Elena mouthed 'run!' pointing to the clothes she'd gotten Mari to the car ride to Valle, and turned to the door to greet Ana after making sure her friend was out of sight.

For the first time in her life, the smile that Elena flashed when she saw Ana was true. She couldn't pinpoint the moment she'd overcome her feelings for Mari and started to root for her to win the blonde over, but this was now like her new life purpose, her gift to the community.

"Damn, you told her, didn't you?" Ana could read it all over Elena's face.

"Sorry, I suck at keeping secrets, but don't worry, I packed the bags as you asked."

Elena made way for Ana to enter the apartment, wondering why Valentina didn't come along with her. Before she could ask about the other baby, Pablo showed up carrying Regina and Ana reached out to pick her up.

"Take good care of her, uh?" He joked, to which Ana rolled her eyes.

"So it's true, Regina and I are really being kidnapped?" Mari entered the room and three pairs of eyes fell straight to the skirt of her dress.

Elena choked back a laugh. When she'd picked the item of clothing for her friend, she hadn't taken into account that, with Mari's boobs being bigger now, the dress would be tighter and shorter. She glanced at Ana just in time to see a faint hint of color on her cheeks. So  _ Mrs Perfect _ had liked what she'd seen. Well, of course, Elena knew pretty well that Mari's body was stunning. She mentally congratulated herself for the rest of the clothes - and lingerie - that she'd put in Mari's suitcase. Once she found out, Mari would want her head on a platter, but then she'd thank her, or so Elena hoped.

"Well, not kidnapped, I perfectly understand if you don't wanna accept the invitation..."

"I'm kidding, Ana, I love the idea! Where's Valentina?"

"In the car with the nanny. I thought it best to bring her along so we wouldn't be overwhelmed with the girls..."

"Great! Let's go then?" She said placing the bag she was carrying on her shoulder, and walking towards the suitcases that Elena had already left near the door.

One last look back before the door closed and Mari saw Pablo and Elena hi-fiving, those idiots. When had they become partners in crime like that?!

The nanny had very little room in the back seat between the two little car seats that Ana had for the little ones, and Mari was in the passenger seat, her legs visible under the dress whose already short skirt had come up higher now that she was seated.

Ana cleared her throat and adjusted the rearview mirror, pretending not to have noticed the amount of thigh that was exposed in her peripheral vision.

The road was quite empty that morning, and they soon reached their destination under the hot sun. Ana ran straight to open the windows and the refrigerator looking for a very cold bottle of water to satisfy her dry mouth. She'd blame the hot weather, but it could very well be due to her being alone with Mariana in that house.

"So, what's the schedule?" Mari entered the kitchen with Valentina in her arms, kissing the little girl's neck.

Ana smiled. Of course, Mari knew she'd have a schedule. Ana Servín would not be Ana Servín without a spreadsheet.

"Well, it's almost time for the girls' morning snack, we can unpack in the meantime, then we feed them and you choose a game for us to play." She pointed to the shelf where the family board games were stacked.

"You'll let me choose? Unheard of!"

"Don't get used to it." Ana bit her lower lip inside her mouth in a failed attempt to hide a smile.

When Mariana finally opened her suitcase and saw that there was not a single piece of clothing that covered more than her butt and the first few inches of her thigh, she wanted to punch Elena in the face. Ana would think that she'd accepted the invitation in a stupid attempt at seduction! Which might be partly true, but certainly not the focus there. Her focus was to be with Ana, with the girls, as it was. She wasn't going to spoil that opportunity by trying to push some sort of romantic thing…

Deciding on the best way to put a smile on Ana's face, Mariana took the minutes she had alone in her room to change into a bikini before putting her clothes back on top of it. She was gonna show Ana that she still trusted her, that she had the courage to enter the pool as long as she was beside her.

They fed the girls their snack, accepting that more than half of the food didn't reach its destination in the girls' mouths, ending up on their chubby little faces, on their little hands, on the chair, on the floor, there was a moment when Regina hit a spoon with such strength that the banana baby food flew all the way to the ceiling! But both Ana and Mari were in such a good mood that the challenges of that morning wouldn't stress them for the world.

When Ana asked what board game she wanted to play, Mari revealed her plan to go swimming instead, to which Ana's face lit up since it was Mariana who was suggesting going to the pool. With the help of the nanny, they changed the girls into the lovely bathing suits they had and Ana went back to her room to change, saying that she'd meet them by the pool.

Mariana didn't dare to enter the pool before Ana joined her outside, and the older woman noticed the trace of concern deep between the young woman's eyebrows.

"Hey," Ana touched Mari's bare shoulder, "You don't have to go in if you don't want to, okay? I brought you here for a nice weekend, I don't want this." He ran her finger gently over the wrinkle at the top of Mari's nose, to which the girl smiled, now tense for another reason: the close proximity between them.

Ana stepped aside and removed the robe that covered her dark red bathing suit. Mari quickly forced her eyes elsewhere, she couldn't believe that all of Ana's swimsuits were that sexy. There was nowhere to run: you looked at the cleavage, you saw half her breasts, you looked down, you saw that damn thing hugging Ana's body gently, making Mariana's head spin thinking about everything she wanted to find out about that body.

The blonde sat on the edge of the pool, gave Mariana a tight smile, and pushed herself into the water, sliding gracefully until her body was submerged up to her shoulders.

"Isn't it cold?"

"No, it's perfect. The staff here always sets a refreshing temperature, one where you don't need two hours to get used to the difference between the water and the outside world. Ana winked, then turned to the nanny and held out her arms, asking for Valentina, who was soon passed into her arms. "Hey my looove, you missed the pool, didn't you?" She asked her daughter in her sweetest voice while lowering Valentina's tiny body little by little underwater, in smooth movements.

Mariana took a quick breath three times, looked apologetically at Regina, and said:

"Give mommy a minute, okay?"

"Well of course, mommy, I'm a very good girl, I can wait till my mom finds her courage." Ana said in the same sweet little voice she used with Valentina.

"It's not a matter of courage..." Mari lied. Of course it was courage. "I just need a minute to get ready."

"No problem. But why don't you get ready by sitting here on the edge?" Ana was already playing with Valentina in the water, such ease that mesmerized Mariana and made her follow the advice.

Ana didn't press her, quite the contrary, she did what Mariana would like the whole world to do while she was building up the courage to go into the water: she talked about other things, not addressing the fact. And so it was while Ana was rambling about what word would be Valentina's first that Mariana suddenly sank into the pool, shoulders, neck, head, everything! Ana was startled, she held Valentina in one arm so she could stretch the other towards Mariana when she emerged, in case she needed to hold onto someone, a safe haven, which she did.

Mariana held onto Ana trying not to hurt her arm. Even though her feet could touch the ground, the panic the pool ignited on her was irrational.

"We're here," Ana's soothing voice brought her back to the world that existed beyond the water, "Vale and I, right, Vale? She says she'll save you if she has to."

Ana's smile was so tender, it was that damn smile that had made Mariana fall in love. And it was thanks to it that she managed to ease the grip on Ana's arm, gaining a little more confidence in her own two feet, which assured her that it was not possible to drown there. A few more minutes and Mariana let go of Ana, asking the nanny to hand Regina over. Once she had her daughter in her arms, she calmed down, all attention turning to her and the little sister that life had given her.

“Nana," Valentina babbled again. "Eina."

Ana and Mariana shot their eyes wide open simultaneously, staring at one another to confirm what had just happened.

"Did she say…?" Ana was the first to voice the question that surrounded them.

"She did! I heard it, did you too?? ”

"I did!! Vale, my love, were you calling your little sister?”

The baby looked from one blue eye to the other, fully focused on her mother's face for a moment, before shaking her arms again and splashing water into her own eyes. She then started screaming.

The nanny came to the rescue, so Ana didn't have to leave the pool, just shout orders from afar that Valentina's eyes needed to be dried with the lilac microfiber towel.

"Can you believe that, princess?" Mari asked Regina despite Valentina's screams in the background. "Your sister's first word was your name, Regina, Eina." Mariana kissed the tip of the baby's nose. "What do you say? Will Vale be your first word, love? Vava? Lele?" She gave the girl a few more kisses until she noticed Ana coming out of the pool to try to calm Valentina, who was still crying a lot. "Ana! Ana, where are you going?"

The blonde stopped before taking the last step, divided. Help Valentina or Mariana? It seemed like an obvious choice, but she knew how essential her presence in the pool was to keep Mariana from losing her mind. And with Regina in her arms, all Ana wanted was not for Mariana to lose her mind.

"Look at me, Mari." Ana took a step back and held out her hand, holding the brunette's wrist. "Valentina needs me. You'll be fine, I promise." She said looking deep into those nervous brown eyes. "Hold here."

She slid her hand to take Mari's and guided her to the stairs. Mariana held the handrail firmly in one hand, placing Regina on the other arm, looking worriedly from her daughter to the stairs.

"This won't work, Ana, I should leave too."

"Nonsense. You're doing really well. Let's put Regina here sitting on the edge," Ana guided Mariana, helping her to place the baby on the edge of the pool, against the handrail which her mother was holding firmly. "Okay, now with this hand you support her. The rail is holding you both, it's okay." She smiled that sweet smile again, then left the pool, leaving a tense Mariana clinging to the handrail and her daughter.

Ana managed to calm Valentina, while also checking in on Mariana every five seconds. She didn't blink, frozen in place by the stairs. Ana returned Valentina to the nanny's lap, instructing her to take care of the babies in the shade for a while. She crouched down by the stairs and told Mariana that she was going to get Regina out of the pool for a bit. After leaving Regina in the stroller next to her sister who was now angrily sucking the pacifier, Ana promptly returned to the water, pulling Mariana by the hands away from the stairs.

"Are you alright?" She smiled, to which Mariana nodded, clearly lying. "Come here, let me teach you something." She let go of Mariana's hands, placing one hand on the woman's lower back and the other on her shoulder. "I'll teach you how to float."

"No." Mariana froze, but Ana insisted.

"Let's just try. If you don't want to go all the way, we'll stop. But I won't let go of you. I promise."

Mariana looked for truth in the tender eyes that assured her and finally agreed.

"Now lean back, come on." She pulled Mariana's lower back towards herself while gently pushing her shoulder back, bending Mariana under the water. The brunette still had both feet on the ground and her neck rigid as hell as she felt the water come closer to her ears. "Trust me, Mari. Let go." Ana's voice said.

The hand on her lower back left her for a moment, finding her skin again on the back of one of her thighs, which Ana gently pulled upward until Mariana let her leg float up, keeping the other foot on the floor. Before Mari understood what happened, Ana's hand resumed its position on her lower back and pushed Mariana's body upwards, making it impossible for her to touch the floor any longer. The arm closest to Ana grabbed her, seeking balance. With her body almost stretched, Mariana tried to relieve the tension in her neck, feeling Ana's other hand leave her shoulder and position itself on her back, giving her the support she needed to make her less tense.

"Good girl, that's it. Now take a deep breath, fill your lungs with air."

Mariana closed her eyes and followed the instructions. She felt part of her body float, while another part still sought safety in Ana.

"Try to let go of me now, little by little. I'll still be holding your back, don't worry."

Mari obeyed, her arms relaxing at last, making her body feel lighter and lighter, finally floating to the surface. The water soon covered her ears, and she found it weirdly nice. Normally, she wouldn't like the feeling of being deprived of her hearing but it actually allowed her to forget the outside world and focus only on the simple task of floating. 

"Like it?"

She heard Ana ask as soon as she put her feet back on the ground and wiped the water droplets off her face. When she reopened her eyes, Mari realized Ana's face was kinda really close. She suddenly couldn't answer the question. She didn't dare look at her lips, and she totally lost her air when he saw Ana's eyes searching for her mouth. Mari's body went from a state of almost total relaxation to a state of semi-panic. Who would have thought that it wouldn't be the pool that would make her heart race that way, but the owner of those maddening blue eyes, which returned to look for answers in her eyes.

She wouldn't dare kiss Ana. She wouldn't make the same mistake twice, no matter how much her body screamed for her to jolt forward. The distance between them could be closed with a single movement, it was so tempting... Suddenly she realized Ana was holding back a smirk, and she saw her turn her face away, freeing the smirk to the garden instead. Mari took a step back and sank her body a little deeper into the water as if begging the wet cloak to save her from that situation. It was clear to her that Ana knew she still wanted her. Had she decided to play with Mariana? Make fun of her, just for the sake of it? To see Mariana squirming at her desire to kiss her? 'Devilish woman,' Mariana thought.

***

The girls finally surrendered to sleep, after some whining. Ana and the nanny had taken care of the arduous task while Mariana showered and got dressed. Having only the options that Elena had given her, Mariana opted for the beige dress, not as short as the others, but showing off quite a lot of cleavage, her breasts squeezed against each other in a way that resembled how they looked in a bikini. Considering that she had spent almost the entire day in a bikini, Mari decided that keeping her breasts on display like that would not sound as provocative as Elena had probably intended.

She found Ana in the kitchen, her wet hair pushed back, showing the earrings she was always wearing. Mari loved that hairstyle. She did find Ana beautiful in any hairstyle, but when she brushed the blonde strands back, she looked more serious, more dangerous, more attractive, if such a thing was even possible.

"Red?" Ana lifted the bottle of wine for her guest's approval. "Or white, so you don't stain your dress?" She let her eyes fall to Mariana's outfit.

"Red. I'm not that clumsy." She laughed, Ana opened the bottle, poured two glasses, and they toasted, the liquid soon filling their mouths, their first sip of alcohol on that weekend.

"Damn, I needed this!" Mari said, savoring the taste. "Now with college and the research group besides Regina and the app, things are running a bit crazy… It's nice to finally hit pause."

Ana pondered again if she should offer to help with the app, and ended up convincing herself that taking the weight off Mariana's shoulders would be worth any risk. The offer surprised the young woman, who had never thought that Ana would trust her enough to do business with her. As expected, Ana pulled the computer and started making some notes, showing Mariana the ideas she had on how to boost Konene and thus help the application to be more profitable.

Mari let her explain her ideas, then said she couldn't pay for that consulting, let alone for Ana's professional long-term services, and that was when Ana's hand landed on top of hers.

"Stop being silly, you're my daughter's mother, of course what I'm offering here would be free of charge for you."

"I can't accept that, Ana."

"You moved in after knowing me for two seconds, but you can't accept my help with the app now that you've known me for months?!"

"One thing has nothing to do with the other, the housing situation was for the sake of the girls, it was something that benefited both of us, whereas the app-"

"Also benefits both of us! Hey, if Regina's mom has a killer app on the market, Regina benefits. And if she benefits, I benefit, so as far as I can see, everyone's winning here. It's a win-win!"

It seemed that Ana was getting closer and closer to Mariana as she presented the facts. Before Mari could process the closeness, the blonde looked at the last sip in her glass and decided to get up to fill up their glasses once again.

"Can we make a deal, then?" Mari followed as Ana opened the fridge door again and refilled the glasses, a little more than the last time, leaving only a little bit of red wine at the bottom of the bottle.

Ana took a large sip from her glass and dumped the rest of the liquid from the bottle in it, not wanting to waste any alcohol.

"What sort of deal?"

"I say yes to you doing the marketing strategy for Konene provided that-"

"Provided thaaaaat?"

"Provided that it doesn't take any time from us with the girls. Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays are sacred, I don't want you working on the app then."

"Deal."

"Promise?" Mariana's arched eyebrow said it all: that she very much doubted that Ana would keep that end of the deal.

"Promise! I swear on this wine!" She said laughing and raising her glass.

"What's that supposed to mean?!"

"It means that if I down this whole glass before you do yours, I have the ability to go three days a week without working on anything app-related."

Ana's squinted eyes challenged Mariana. Instead of replying, though, Mari grabbed her own glass and began to chug, leaving a desperate Ana with zero chances of keeping up. The businesswoman hadn't thought Mariana would follow through with the silly bet, but the precious seconds of advantage that the brunette had gained earned her the victory: Mariana was the first to return the empty glass to the counter.

"That didn't count, it was not fair!!" Ana protested, taking a step towards Mari, who kept laughing at her affronted face. "Hey! Stop laughing! It didn't count, I'm gonna open a new bottle and we try again, this was ridiculous, you jumped the gun!"

As Ana tried to turn to the fridge to get another bottle, Mariana grabbed her arm and pulled her closer.

"You lost, accept it." She teased.

"I did  _ not _ lose. It was unfair." Ana held her ground. She tried to look down at Mari but her shortness didn't help much. So she set her chin up, like she could.

"And what are you gonna do about it?" Mari teased more, eyebrows rising, dangerous eyes.

"Let go of my arm." Ana ordered.

"Or?"

They eyed each other, already up close, each breath a risk of one giving in and kissing the other. Mari knew that Ana wanted to. Two glasses of wine weren't enough to make someone act that way if that someone hadn't been eager to taste the very consequences she dared.

"Do you really wanna know?"

"I think you're the one who wants to tell me." Mari smirked, and let go of Ana's arm.

"Idiot." Ana didn't move, didn't reach for the fridge, didn't move an inch away.

"Me?"

"Yes, you."

"Why, Ana?" Mari leaned as close as she could without kissing Ana. "May I know?"

"You're gonna make me ask for it, aren't you?"

"Ask for what?"

Mari's smile was almost devilish by now. Ana looked down and bit hard on her lower lip, summoning the courage. When she rose her gaze back to Mariana, she asked:

"Kiss me."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't kill me.


	4. Control

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Content warning:  
> this chapter contains explicit scenes. If you prefer to skip this type of content, I added warnings (>>>>>> Obscene scenes below <<<<<< and >>>>>> End of obscene scenes <<<<<< ) so you know what to skip. :)

Mari leaned her head slightly to the right, her lips almost touching Ana's. The blonde let her eyelids close, she felt Mariana's nose teasing her, touching hers, and finally, Mari's lips on hers. She drew in a breath as deep as she could, her hands finding the waist of the woman who was kissing her, then Mari trapped her lower lip between hers.

One of Mariana's hands held Ana's neck, sending a chill to her stomach as Mariana pulled her closer, tasting her lips until Ana's tongue found hers, and they both felt their body temperature rising. With her other arm, Mariana hugged Ana's back, and they felt more parts of their bodies meeting, the older woman holding the younger's waist more tightly, pulling her close.

Mariana couldn't believe how amazingly good Ana's kiss was, how perfectly their mouths fit together, how hot that kitchen was getting. When Ana let go of her lips for the first time, Mari thought the kiss would end there, but the blonde proceeded to kiss the curve of her jaw, on the way to her ear. The sound of that mouth approaching her ear sent a shiver down the brunette's spine, expectation rising as she breathed heavily, eyes still closed, feeling Ana tease her with her tongue until she sucked her earlobe in a wet kiss, which made Mari bite her lower lip to hold the sounds that were trying to escape her throat.

As Ana lowered her kisses to her neck, Mari squeezed the nape of the woman's neck without realizing it, eventually running her fingers through the blonde hair she liked so much. Ana's kisses turned into nibbles and hickeys until Mariana couldn't take it anymore and pulled her head back up, demanding her mouth on hers. The hand Mariana had around Ana's shoulder came down her back, then her lower back and Mari wondered if she'd have the guts to go any lower. Before she could decide, she felt Ana's hands finally moving, sliding up her sides towards her breasts. Ana didn't dare to hold them fully, but she ran her hands over their sides, feeling their curve through the material of the tight dress.

Mariana didn't know how much more she could take before she lost her mind. How far did Ana wanna go? How far should she go with Ana? Her tongue was enjoying exploring Ana's, but her body was begging for more, it was asking, mainly, for fewer clothes. God knows how many nights Mariana spent thinking about Ana's body, and now that she had it in her hands, it was torture not to be able to have it  _ completely _ .

Ana lowered her hands again to the other woman's waist, squeezing every bit of Mariana that fit in her small hands, before sliding them up Mari's back, till she found bare shoulders and the thin strap of the dress. As their kiss went on, Ana sank her nails on the exposed skin on Mari's back, to which Mari responded by lowering her hands to Ana's ass and squeezing it over the thin fabric of the long skirt. She let out a suppressed moan inside Ana's mouth and the sound made her cheeks heat. She felt Ana leaving her lips, her upper body leaning away. They looked at each other for the first time since they started kissing, Mari with flushed cheeks, Ana with an intense gaze.

"D’you wanna sleep in my room tonight?" Ana asked, a little nervous. Taking a man to bed was the easiest thing in the world, but a woman? Mariana, even? If only she could know what to expect from her... What would she be like in bed? Sweet and romantic? Intense and erotic? It was very hard to know what to expect from those brown eyes that answered her with a shy nod.

They let go of each other's bodies and Ana took Mari to her room by the hand. Mari tucked her own strands of hair behind her ear as she walked behind the woman she'd wanted for so long. Would she scare Ana away if she allowed lust to fully take over? What did Ana expect from that night? Would they really go all the way? Should she ask Ana exactly what she intended to try?

Mari decided she'd allow Ana to guide whatever was going to happen between them, so when she heard the sound of the lock turning, her eyes searched for Ana to see what she was gonna do. What she found was Ana already getting rid of her blouse. The blonde threw it to a corner without taking her eyes off Mari and walked towards her with a predatory smile.

"I hate it when you're right," Ana said. Mari laughed nervously, still not sure exactly how to behave, what impulses to control. "The thing is…" Ana's eyes roamed over Mari’s curves appreciatively, "I've always found you very attractive, but you were never an option, you know?" She squinted with the question, and Mariana didn't know what to answer. Ana was close now, and Mari ventured her eyes down to take in those breasts trapped inside the black bra. "This," Ana pointed at Mari's mouth just as she unconsciously licked her lower lip, "I'm used to seeing  _ men _ do this when they want me, but you, Mariana? How was I supposed to know that  _ you  _ were gonna want me?"

"Ana…" Words failed her, her gaze still lost admiring the woman's waist before her eyes, her belly, her belly button, she wanted to bite that skin, she wanted to taste Ana in her mouth.

"If you were a man, I'd know exactly where to start." She chuckled, finding humor in the thought, "Men are so easy, it's almost no fun..."

"Why don't you let me show you how much more interesting women can be, then?"

When Ana raised an eyebrow, interested in finding out what she meant by that, Mari held her face with both hands and brought it to her mouth again. She kissed her firmly yet still holding a bit back. If what was worrying Ana was not knowing exactly what to do in a room with a woman, Mari could take the lead. Who would've thought? The specialist there was Mari, and she should enjoy making that woman who was addicted to being the expert in all contexts surrender control for a change.

Mari released Ana's face and grabbed her shoulders. She broke the kiss, gazed into her eyes for half a beat, then spun Ana around in a quick movement, pressing the woman's back against her chest. She ran her hands down her belly while having her mouth find the exposed neck, sucking on the white skin of that woman who was always so perfectly uptight. Ana's surprise at the sudden movement was mixed with pleasure when she felt Mariana's mouth and hands showing her how much she desired her.

Ana raised her arms and reached for Mari's head with her hands, pulling her even closer, showing her that the maneuver had pleased her. Mari's hands finally grabbed her bra, making Ana gasp. Mari's mouth went to the blonde's ear and she said, a little breathless:

"If I do anything you don't want, just tell me."

"I find it very unlikely to happen." Ana breathed out, chuckling lightly before kissing her again, with some effort, given the unfavorable angle of her neck and their height difference.

When Mari's hands eased on her breasts, Ana turned back and pulled the string that tied the beige dress, just below the neckline. With the knot undone, the fabric loosened, and Ana's eyes sought Mari's permission to remove the dress. Mari took Ana's hands, placed them on her legs, at the hem of the dress, and let go, giving her a chance to decide the next step. Instead of pulling the dress up right away, Ana slid her hands under it, feeling Mariana's curves as she eyed her. When her hands reached the brunette's belly, the dress was already half lifted thanks to her arms under it. Ana decided to remove it completely, pulling it over Mariana's head, then dropping it near their feet.

Ana looked at the woman's naked breasts in front of her, for the first time regarding them with curiosity. Ana had already seen them on occasion when Mari was breastfeeding Valentina, but whenever she saw them, it wasn't with the hungry look she gave them now. Ana swallowed hard, it was strange to suddenly find herself wanting to hold them. She'd never noticed how perfectly round and perky they were. Mari chuckled, just standing there while Ana analyzed her without touching her. Realizing that there was a lot going on inside her head, and wanting the experience to be less stressful, she lifted Ana's chin with her fingers and gently kissed her on the soft lips. She smiled at her when they broke the kiss and asked:

"My turn?"

Ana smiled back and unclasped her bra, letting it slide down her arms until it fell to the floor. Mari felt an immediate need to have those boobs in her mouth, she wanted to find out if Ana's nipples were sensitive to her tongue, but before giving in to her lust, she stepped closer and brushed her naked breasts against Ana's, letting her nipples touch the woman's. The two of them looked down, seeing and feeling their breasts touching. It was soft, nice, something Mari thought would silence any concern that might be lurking in Ana's head. When their bellies also touched, Mari raised her hands to Ana's hips, still hidden by the long skirt. She found the zipper on the back of the skirt and pulled it down. The older woman put her hands on hers, and together, they freed Ana from her skirt, which fell to their bare feet, showing the legs Mari had admired so often.

Ana considered the situation, the two of them in their panties in her room in Valle. When would she have ever imagined that one day she'd be living that with that woman? Mari kissed her again, and this time, with their breasts rubbing against one another, Ana felt more turned on, flames running down her body as she welcomed one of Mari's thighs between her legs, teasing her over her panties. In response, the blonde bit her lip and pulled her hair at the back of her neck. It was the sign that Mari needed before she grabbed Ana by the arms and forced her to take a few steps back until her back found the hard surface of the empty wall.

Ana smirked, enjoying the way Mari seemed to want to handle her. Now that her back was supported, Ana managed to get one leg off the floor and tease Mariana's leg sensually, to which Mari grabbed her thigh and pulled her around her waist, pressing her body harder against Ana. They kissed hotly, with Mariana's wet hair sometimes getting in the way of their needy kisses. Enjoying the answer in Ana's gasps, Mariana searched for the woman's panties, placing her arm between their bodies. She ran her fingers over the wet fabric and heard a moan finally escape the woman under her control.

Ana looked up to the ceiling and grabbed Mari's arms, her hips moving against the hand Mariana used to tease her. The brunette, barely able to believe what was happening, lowered her face to kiss Ana's neck again, going from her collarbone towards her breasts.

"Mariana," Ana moaned her name, "For the love of god, take me to bed."

Leaving a trail of wet kisses back to Ana's neck, Mari released the leg she held around her waist and pulled her body away from Ana's. They moved to the bed, dropping their panties along the way.

_ >>>>>> Obscene scenes below <<<<<< _

Ana lay down first, pulling the other woman on top of her. Mari felt on her thigh the wetness that had pooled on Ana's core, and so she looked into Ana's ocean eyes and lowered her mouth to one of the breasts she had wanted to suck for so long. Ana watched her, mouth agape and eyebrows connected in response. Mari's hot tongue brushed over one nipple, and they kept looking at each other, feeling their pussies throb. Mari released the first breast with a  _ pop _ and went for the next, repeating the process with her mouth and the tip of her tongue, her thumb now sliding over the other wet nipple. When she released the second breast, Mari went back up to Ana's face, and the woman kissed her hungrily.

Ana had her arms up above her head, absolutely surrendered on the mattress. Mari found it incredibly hot, she bit her lip, then her neck, ran her tongue briefly over one nipple once more, and kept lowering down the woman's body: a bite on her belly, a hickey on the groin that once displayed a tattoo, then she stopped, her face finally close to Ana's sex.

Mari looked up, finding Ana's eyes watching her. With an evil smile, she lowered her head again, brushing her nose lightly on the skin that yearned for her attention. Ana closed her eyes and licked her lip in anticipation. When she realized that the blonde was no longer watching, Mari swiped her tongue sensually over the entire length of the wet pussy that was waiting for her. Ana moaned immediately, spreading her legs even further, to which Mari adjusted her body in the new space that had been offered to her. With her nose pressed against Ana's skin, Mari began to suck her, breathing through her mouth as her lips and tongue kept busy stimulating the sensitive clit under her.

Ana was barely able to fill her lungs with air, losing her mind completely with the movements of that tongue on her. She'd had some experience with oral sex throughout her life, but no one compared to the slow, erotic pace with which Mariana's tongue worked. Even moaning was proving to be hard to handle. Her mouth was constantly agape, but she was too afraid of letting out her voice, afraid she wouldn't be able to hold the scream, afraid of being heard by the nanny, afraid of - god forbid! -, waking up their daughters!

Before long, she was horny enough to expect that an orgasm would rip through her at any moment. Her hips went up to meet Mariana's mouth at their own will. She gripped the pillowcase in her fists, trying to take the tension down on something. Mariana felt in her tongue that Ana's clit was more sensitive than ever, more swollen, her tongue sliding across the damp skin with virtually no friction. She sped her ministrations and reduced the pressure, using only the tip of her tongue on the tip of Ana's clit to bring the woman to her physical limit.

When it happened, Mari knew instantly. Ana couldn't help the first loud, uncontrolled moan. Mariana felt her own pussy getting three times wetter after that dirty sound. The blonde quickly pulled one of the pillows over her face to muffle the rest of the moans she let out as she orgasmed. When Mari's tongue quit, they were both panting hard. Ana threw the pillow off her face and tossed it aside, desperate for more air. Sweat was glistening on the back of her neck and between her breasts. Mari had never seen Ana so spent.

_ >>>>>> End of obscene scenes <<<<<< _

"Fuck, Mari..." She said to the ceiling, one arm dead across her face, keeping her eyes still closed, "If I'd known what you were capable of, I swear to god it wouldn't have taken me that long to have you eat me."

Mari laughed, very pleased with herself. Ana was only the second woman she'd ever had sex with, but Elena's feedback had also been no different. She climbed up on the bed to lay her head on the same pillow as Ana, and they faced each other while lying on their sides in the center of the bed.

"You're  _ so _ hot," Mari blurted out with a lustful smile. "If it was up to me, you'd spread your legs right now and we'd do it all over again."

"Do you really mean to kill me?" Ana laughed, and Mari savored that laugh more than ever. "I'm not a young girl like you."

"Good, because I wouldn't want you to be. You're perfect like this."

Ana loved the compliment and planted a kiss on the tip of Mari's nose in response.

"Now someone needs to take care of you, don't they?" The blonde raised her eyebrow, trying to hide how nervous she was about her role in that.

"Another time." Mari adjusted Ana's hair behind her ear. "If that's alright?"

"Hey, I can't be that bad."

"No, quite the opposite, believe me, I'm _ dying _ for you to take care of me, but for today I just want to stay like this, admiring you." Mari smiled at her, and Ana found truth in her words. She wasn't used to being the only one to come, but she supposed that if Mari preferred that night to be all about her, there was no harm in that.

"You're amazing, you know that?" Ana confessed. She wasn't ready yet to repeat to Mari the three little words she'd said that night when she was stoned, but she knew they were probably true.

"Not more than you." Mari kissed Ana's lips sweetly, then Ana turned on her back, pulling Mariana's arm over her waist so the brunette would be the big spoon, and their bodies seemed to fit perfectly together like that.

And so they fell asleep. What would come of that, no one knew, but the taste of their first night together had been better than either of them had imagined. A taste that they both wanted to feel again, knowing in their hearts that they would never wanna let that happiness go.

\- THE END - 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My loves, I hope you enjoyed the fic (leave Kudos if you did, they make me happy)! When I finished season 1, I couldn't keep these feelings to myself, I just needed my gays together, so this little story was what I came up with to calm my little gay heart (and hopefully yours as well!) If you enjoy my writing, consider checking my other fics and following me on twitter @m_a_y__i :)


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